Harrogate Bus Company hopeful for no 24 bus service's future after support from North Yorkshire County Council

As passengers numbers remain stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels, warnings are growing that some services have become unviable since lockdown ended a year ago.

The danger signs for the 24 Pateley Bridge-Harrogate service run by Harrogate Bus Company – which travels at least once every two hours in day-time Monday to Saturdays via Killinghall, Hampsthwaite, Birstwith, Clint Bank, Darley and Summerbridge – arose last October.

With costs rising and passenger numbers lagging behind expectations, the bus operator announced, reluctantly, that the service was no longer commercially viable and they intended to withdraw most journeys.

Although transport authority North Yorkshire County Council stepped in to offer greater financial support to the 24, the intervention was scheduled to end in March.

During the original crisis in October, Pateley Bridge Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Murday had warned that residents, workers and visitors using the 24 faced having only two bus services a day.

Fears had been building that passengers were now facing a crunch point – until successful talks between Harrogate Bus Company and North Yorkshire County Council.

As a result, fears for the immediate future of the number 24 Pateley Bridge-Harrogate service run by Harrogate Bus Company appear to have been lifted.

A spokesperson for the bus firm said: “The 24 route is still run by The Harrogate Bus Company and as things stand, there are no plans for that to change.

"We can also confirm additional funding has been secured from North Yorkshire County Council, so no further changes are planned to the 24's current timetable.”

But the problems facing the overall bus system remain, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways and transportation, warned Coun Keane Duncan.

“The issues affecting the 24 service come at a time of immense pressure for bus services nationally and across North Yorkshire," said Coun Duncan.

"Despite using £1.6m of county council funds each year to support bus services, around 80 routes are at risk of reducing their frequency or ceasing altogether."